Taunton homeowners feel the crunch of property tax increases

Saturday

Apr 19, 2014 at 11:01 PMApr 19, 2014 at 11:11 PM

Marc Larocquemlarocque@tauntongazette.com

TAUNTON — During the past three years, the average property tax bill for a single-family home in Taunton increased by more than 20 percent, making the city one of eight communities in the state that had the biggest average tax bill increases for single-family homes during that span, according to a recent analysis released by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

At the same time, Taunton now ranks at 250 in terms of the cost of the average single-family home tax bill out of 327 communities included in the analysis, in order of most expensive to least expensive, the DOR analysis states. Taunton’s average tax bill for a single-family property is $3,327, according to the DOR data, which falls about 34 percent below the statewide average single-family property tax bill at $5,044.

But during fiscal 2011, Taunton was ranked at 295 in the high-low ranking of average single-family home tax bills in Massachusetts, DOR analysis said. At that point, the average single-family property tax bill was $2,765, the DOR said.

From fiscal 2011 to 2014, the city’s residential tax rate has increased from $11.71 to $14.61, for every $1,000 of assessed value. The average assessed value for a single-family home in Taunton was $236,133 in fiscal 2011, and that average assessed value for a single-family home in the city dropped to $227,706 in fiscal 2014, the DOR data said.

Taunton homeowner Celina Dias Pendexter said that she has felt city’s increase in single-family home tax bills in her pocket. In 2011, her Homestead Crossing house was valued at $419,100, according to city data. This fiscal year, it was assessed by the city at $403,700, meaning that her property tax bill jumped 17 percent from $4,907 in fiscal 2011 to $5,898 this year.

“I almost had a heart attack when I got my last tax bill,” she said.

Dias Pendexter said that because of these increases in her tax bill, she is considering relocating — but she and her husband want to stay in the city as their son goes through high school here.

“The way taxes are going, we are not going to be able to afford to stay living in Taunton,” she said. “It’s ridiculous.”

The downward trend of property assessments has affected every community in the state, according to the recent DOR analysis. Taunton’s single-family home property values have gone down 3.57 percent between fiscal 2011 and 2014, putting the community in the middle of the pack (149 of the 327 communities in the analysis), in terms of biggest decreases of assessments to lowest decreases of assessments.

Bob Lincoln, who owns a home on Bluejay Lane in East Taunton, said that he understands that the tax increases can be difficult for many in the city.

“Taunton is much lower than most of the state,” Lincoln said. “On one hand, we get what we pay for. We complain about the lack of city services and things getting fixed, but also are paying less than most cities. On the other hand, some of the increases are a real hardship for most people.”

Lincoln also made the suggestion that the city could post its spending for each month, broken down by department, on its website to provide more transparency about how the taxes are used.

The tax rate is set by the Taunton City Council based on factors such as those assessments, with the rate changing on a yearly basis to meet the city’s budget needs. Single-family tax bills are just one part of property taxes, which also includes taxes on commercial properties (now at a rate of $31.19).

A financial management review conducted by the DOR last September stated that taxes on all kinds of residential properties comprise 61.44 percent of Taunton’s total property taxes.

Last year, when the city’s total budget was $188 million, roughly 41 percent (or $77.08 million) of budget revenue came from the tax levy, which the amount of property taxes the city receives, 31 percent came from state aid, 21 came from local receipts, and 6 percent came from other funds, according to the DOR review. This year, the tax levy is $80,717,625, said the Taunton Assessor’s Department.

Taunton has consistently reached the state imposed tax levy limit increase of 2.5 percent in recent years, while it also passed a debt exclusion to fund a $112 million high school renovation project, which was completed in 2011.

The DOR financial management review, based on averages from the past three years, said that Taunton spends about 43 percent of its annual budget on educational costs; while around 25 percent is spent on fixed costs (such as health insurance, retirement, and other employee benefits); and 14 percent is spent on public safety. The remaining expenditures, on average during those years, went towards debt service (5 percent), public works (5 percent), general government (4 percent), human services (1 percent), culture and recreation (1 percent), and other costs (less than 1 percent).